Restoring the quake­hit ecosystems is a question of balancing the interests of the local people and the environment. Rural methane (沼气) projects can reduce the number of locals taking firewood from the mountainsides. The use of straw as food for animals will ensure that vegetation(草木) can grow. In Sihai township and Dazhuangke village, in Beijing, they now have a forestry coverage of 85% or more, compared to the 30% they had 15 years ago. Back then, land was used very inefficiently: one person would use 20 mu of forest just for firewood. With those pressures on the ecosystem, no amount of spending on reforestation will succeed. Then the government relocated the population and paid those who remained to tend the forest and provide coal. This reduced the pressures on the ecosystem and it was able to recover naturally.
When an ecosystem has not been pushed past certain limits, it is able to recover on its own. Human involvement should only play a minor role, including after an earthquake. This is particularly the case for sandy grasslands, grasslands deserts, the mountains of the south and the northern sides of mountains in the north. In these areas soil remains and the water, light, heat and nutrients needed are available. Less human involvement is even more appropriate in areas with a small population, where it can avoid money being wasted on ineffective efforts, such as creating forests in dry areas.
The creation of nature reserves should be a model to allow damaged ecosystems to recover. Funding can start at the national level; centrally­funded nature reserves can enforce environmental protection laws and help to promote the local economy. This will solve the problems of reserves being run to make money. When national reserves are funded, local governments will be able to adopt the same model and provide the funds for nature reserves from their own budgets. The first project should be established in nature reserves hit by the quake; these can then become models for other areas.
小题1:To restore the quake­hit ecosystem, government should ________.A．forbid locals from taking firewood from the mountainsidesB．encourage local people to feed their animals just with strawC．spend large amounts of money relocating the populationD．protect the environment without harming locals' interests小题2:The forestry coverage in rural Beijing has increased greatly because ________.A．pressures on land were reducedB．a large amount of coal is providedC．no people live in that areaD．locals take good care of the forest小题3:According to the passage ________ play(s) a major role in ecosystem recovery.A．local peopleB．nature itselfC．human involvementD．government's effort小题4:According to the last paragraph, which of the following is NOT true?A．Nature reserves could be helpful to recover the damaged ecosystems.B．Centrally­funded nature reserves are beneficial to local economy.C．Some nature reserves are created for the purpose of money.D．The first projects on nature reserves should be set up in quake­hit areas.